Michael Sauer | Defenseman | #38

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Recent News

Michael Sauer (concussion) was not given a qualifying offer from the New York Rangers.

He has not played since suffering a concussion on Dec. 5, 2011 following a hard hit from Toronto's Dion Phaneuf. His status for next season is questionable, so he probably won't get any takers as an unrestricted free agent until he's back to 100 percent. Tue, Jul 2, 2013 08:25:00 AM

Michael Sauer (concussion) is "not even in the conversation" for the Rangers, coach John Tortorella said.

The defenseman suffered a concussion Dec. 5, 2011, in a collision with the Maple Leafs' Dion Phaneuf. Sauer has not been on the ice since. "I wish I could give you some kind of timetable on when or if he can come back, but I can’t," Sauer’s agent, Ben Hankinson, said. "Unfortunately it’s still day to day, week to week, month to month." Fri, Jan 18, 2013 09:17:00 PM

Michael Sauer (concussion) might not be able to play when the lockout ends.

In fact, it's possible that Sauer won't be able to play at all in 2012-13 due to post-concussion syndrome, even if the season is saved. He had a goal and three points in 19 games last season. Fri, Jan 4, 2013 08:31:00 AM

The outlook on defenseman Michael Sauer and his recovery from a concussion still isn't good, according to Rangers coach John Tortorella.

"Michael has not responded that well, I'll be quite honest, and I do not think you'll see him at the beginning of the season," said Tortorella on Sunday. "That's a big hole for us. Michael played very well for us, and we certainly missed him during the playoff run. I think it's going to be a little bit of time before Michael resumes his career." Sauer has been sidelined since Dec. 5 following a big hit from Toronto's Dion Phaneuf. Tue, Sep 11, 2012 05:00:00 PM

Depth Charts

Zibanejad won't travel with the team for Wednesday's game against Ottawa. He saw some time on the power play during Tuesday's session, but it's possible he will be more involved during Thursday's skate. Zibanejad appears to be moving in the right direction.

Kevin Hayes found the back of the net in a 6-3 loss to Chicago on Wednesday.

It was Hayes' first goal since Oct. 21. He has four goals and eight points in 19 games, which is below what we would hope for from him. That being said, we don't still expect that he'll pick up the pace somewhat as the campaign progresses.

David Desharnais registered three assists in the Rangers' 5-4 loss to Florida.

Desharnais was actually initially projected to be a healthy scratch on Tuesday, but he drew into the lineup because Mika Zibanejad couldn't make it past the pregame warmups due to an upper-body injury. Desharnais clearly made the most of the surprise opportunity even if it didn't end up working out for the Rangers as a team. He took Zibanejad's place between Pavel Buchnevich and Chris Kreider. Desharnais has two goals and 11 points in 22 contests this season.

Chris Kreider scored twice and added an assist in a 5-4 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.

Kreider rallied the troops in an attempted comeback on Tuesday. New York was down 3-0 after the first and 4-1 in the second before he and Pavel Buchnevich scored to tie the game at four goals apiece. Alas, the Panthers snatched the victory in the third period. Kreider has 10 goals and 16 points in 25 games this season.

Rick Nash found the back of the net in Monday's 2-1 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars.

Nash's goal tied the game at one with under four minutes remaining in regulation time. It also put an end to his 10-game goalless drought. The Rangers forward now has eight goals and eight assists in 30 games. He's on pace to surpass the 20-goal mark, but his season has been pretty disappointing.

Michael Graber found the back of the net in Friday's 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals.

Grabner cut the Rangers' deficit to 2-1 late in the second period. The goal was his fifth in his last five games. The Rangers forward finished the night with four shots on goal and two blocked shots in 15:43 of ice time. Grabner has 14 goals and two assists in 28 games. He's currently on pace to score 41 goals this season.

Mats Zuccarello scored two goals as the New York Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Saturday night.

Zuccarello scored his team's third and fourth goals, potting what proved to be the game-winner 16 minutes into the second period. The winger now has seven goals and 24 points in 29 games so far this season. It is his second two-point performance in his last three games.

That extended Miller's point streak to four games. He has four goals and 21 points in 28 games this season. He finish with 56 points in 2016-17 and you should be looking for a similar result out of him this time around.

Jesper Fast and Jimmy Vesey switched lines on Saturday and it paid off for both as each scored in the Rangers' 5-2 win over New Jersey.

Fast moved up to the Rick Nash-Kevin Hayes line while Vesey played alongside Boo Nieves and Paul Carey. Fast has three goals in three straight games and six in his last eight as he now has seven goals and 14 points in 24 games. He is becoming fantasy-relevant.

Ryan McDonagh played a strong game Friday night in his return from an abdominal strain.

The talented rearguard missed four games with the injury but looked in fine form logging a team-high 22:54 minutes of ice time. McDonagh, who also registered an assist in the game, had the following to say about his performance: "Felt really good. Thought I moved my feet well, got around the ice and played strong defensively. Felt like I got even stronger as the game went on, so that was good." If you have not done so already, activate McDonagh.

Washington acquired Shattenkirk ahead of the squad's 2017 playoff run, but he didn't end up working out. "I think everybody thought of him as a 1-2 [defenseman], and he really wasn’t," Trotz said of Shattenkirk. "He was a little lower." Shattenkirk ultimately left the Capitals when his contract expired and signed with the New York Rangers. That's worked out far better for him as he has five goals and 20 points in 27 contests with New York. The Rangers will play against the Capitals on Friday.

Marc Staal registered an assist in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Islanders Thursday night.

Staal also had two hits and two blocked shots in the contest. Staal has a goal and three points in eight contests this season. That's more than we would have expected from Staal at this point as he's not an offensive defenseman by any stretch of the imagination.

Holden is currently playing on the first defense pairing with Ryan McDonagh and if he can maintain that gig, he won't be a healthy scratch any more. It was his first point of the season in his 10th game and while he had a great season last year with 11 goals and 34 points to go with a plus-13 rating, he has been far from fantasy-worthy in 2017-18. Hopefully he will reward his loyal owners with some points in the next few games.

It's an unfortunate result for the Rangers backup goalie, as he turned in a pretty strong performance on Monday. Pavelec came up with some timely saves to keep his team in the game. He now has a 2-4-1 record with a 3.04 goals-against-average and a .914 save percentage this season.